Lot 570 comprises a lovely little pair of double-barrelled percussion pocket pistols by Durs Egg, London dating from the 1830s. Just to make them even more desirable they are contained in their original case with the tiniest, cutest little three-way flask.
Durs Egg was of Swiss origin and made exquisite highly individual flint guns and pistols in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. At the time these pistols were made, his son John Egg was running the business and since these pistols bear the Pall Mall address, they can be dated to 1832-1837.
Due to the lack of an effective police force until the 1830s, pocket pistols were made in their hundreds of thousands for self-preservation. Some are of very poor quality but certainly not so this pair if Eggs. They must have been built for a gentleman or lady as they are of high quality and would have been expensive in their day. They have automatic concealed triggers that pop out when the hammer is cocked so that they could slip in and out of a pocket easily. To make them even more desirable they are double-barrelled and although of tiny bore, 120 bore, at very close range they would be quite lethal.
Lot 570 is estimated at £1500-£2000.
